Tired and cramping, RJ Davis checked out with 14:23 left in the second half. North Carolina was up by four. It was the first time he sat since the 8:39 mark in the first half.
He went to trainer Doug Halverson, who worked Davis’ lower body. And as the graduate guard took a breather, the energy driving the Tar Heels exited the game with him. It was never quite the same after that.
“I wanted to give RJ a break,” head coach Hubert Davis said. “He was giving a lot of effort out there, and I wanted to give him a break. He needed one.”
By the time Davis reentered following the under-12 timeout, Duke’s Cooper Flagg was at the line with the chance to tie the game. And he did. It was the last time UNC had the lead.
In North Carolina’s 82-69 loss to No. 2 Duke at the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday night, the Tar Heels were unable to hang on to a second half lead. UNC took its first lead of the game with 18:41 to go but squandered it just seven minutes later in what was likely a must-win game for NCAA tournament hopes. But the moment was also reflective of UNC's entire season.
“We did a good job of battling throughout the whole game,” RJ Davis said. “It just wasn’t enough in the second half.”
Falling short in the second half has been a constant theme of UNC's games against top-ranked Quad 1 opponents.
Against then-No. 1 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, the Tar Heels battled back from a 15-point halftime deficit. With just 3:28 to play, they clung to a four-point lead, 87-83. Then, North Carolina lost all of its momentum and only scored two points in the final minutes. UNC lost by three.
Over a month later against an undefeated Florida team during the Jumpman Invitational, UNC was down 46-34 at halftime. After taking the lead in the second half and losing it, North Carolina regained the lead, 81-77, with 4:03 to play. In almost a mirror image of the Kansas game, UNC was outscored 13-3 for the remainder of the game.
